Everyone who’s everyone knows what the Met Gala is. Every year (or ones that aren’t impacted by a global pandemic) fashion’s elite gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to showcase their outfits to a plethora of photographers. This year’s Met Gala was postponed from May to September 13. 

The Met Gala is famously known for its theme–Twitter users still reminisce about 2018, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and 2019, Camp: Notes on Fashion. Last year’s Met Gala, About Time: Fashion and Duration, was canceled due to the pandemic, so this year celebrities had the chance to step out and do something never done before.

For the 2021 Met Gala, the theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” brings to mind blue jeans, Old Hollywood, and patriotism; it’s a two-part series, which means that next year’s theme will be “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.”  

Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, and Naomi Osaka co-chaired the event, and Tom Ford, Adam Mosseri, and Anna Wintour served as honorary chairs. Other guests included social media stars Emma Chamberlain, Dixie D’Amelio, and Addison Rae, bridging the gap between online influencers and traditional celebrities. 

The theme “focused on celebrating all things American fashion” and celebrities, with help from famous designers, donned their outfits for a seemingly COVID-free night of pictures, sucking up to each other, and… horrible food. Isabelle and Skyler are here to rate the good, the bad, and the, yes, ugly.

Isabelle: Starting with the most notable outfit of the evening, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, commonly known as AOC, wore a white, strapless, flared dress with bright red text embedded on the back, saying ¨Tax the Rich.¨ Understandably, this caused quite the stir among social media users and news outlets with countless voices showing their admiration, disagreement, hatred, and confusion. Either way, this controversial dress won by the politician/apparent celebrity raised many questions:  was this the right way to get this message across, or was it tacky and performative? Was this a “girlboss” move, or was it more cringy than effective? At first sight, I was conflicted. At second glance, I hated it, deeming it to be “Forever 21 cringey,” and concerned it would become another argument for right-leaning Twitter users to use in their favor. Honestly, I’m still conflicted, but all the media coverage seems to be proving her point. If AOC’s goal was to get people thinking about the bold red message written on the back of her dress, she succeeded. As she pointed out on her Instagram story, more people are googling this message now than ever before, and if more people are thinking about taxing the rich, I’m not too mad. 

Skyler: One of the longest-running “jokes” is all of the men in plain black suits. Except it’s not a joke. Men, step it up. Please! The bar is ON THE FLOOR- you can wear anything you want. You have designers falling at your feet to style you into something besides a black suit. Of course, some of the men there stepped out of the box, but most of them left much to be desired (I’m looking at you, James Corden). 

Timothee Chalamet, everyone’s favorite white boy, styled by Haider Ackermann, showed up to the gala in an all-white look, complete with sweatpants and Chuck Taylors. While the pants and shoes bring homage to the American theme, the overall look is seemingly last-minute and lazy. Can someone please get him a belt? I lost count of how many times he had to pull up his sweatpants. Hey, at least he was comfortable…

Isabelle: I have to give it to Claire Boucher, popularly known as “Grimes,” for wearing my favorite outfit of the night. She wore a silver battle-style dress, flowing black on the bottom to make it appear as if she were floating. She wielded a sword, forged out of melted guns, and a metal face mask with her hair tightly pulled to the top. The look was an homage to the women who work in special effects and visual design for action movies in Hollywood, and the dress was inspired by the popular novel and upcoming film remake, “Dune.” Say what you want about the Canadian hyper-pop singer, but she looked straight out of an epic sci-fi movie. 

Skyler: Another one of our favorite white boys, Troye Sivan, turned up in a black figure-forming slip dress by  Joseph Altuzarra, inspired by New York City street style. He paired the look with a black leather armband and a Cartier diamond necklace. The dress was great, and a step in the right direction towards erasing toxic and fragile masculinity, but come on… it’s the Met Gala? As in one of the most important fashion events of the year? Here’s hoping Sivan steps it up for next year’s Gala. 

Dan Levy showed up and showed out in a J.W. Anderson outfit, influenced by late artist David Wojnarovicz. Levy’s getup includes somewhat gravity-defying puff sleeves with a map print, a shiny torso accessorized by Cartier, and an applique of two men kissing on the front of his shirt(? Not sure what it would be considered as). The outfit is a nod to  the “arbitrary borders and divisions the queer community [has] faced” through the years. This respects the theme of American Fashion, depicting the struggle of the LGBTQIA+ community through the history of the nation. 

Frank Ocean, although arguably wearing nothing special, did bring along a shiny green robot baby wearing a onesie named Cody for the night’s festivities. The baby was, according to Ocean, fitting with the theme because of movie magic and animatronics in Hollywood. It’s a long shot to the theme of American fashion, but he put his spin on it, which is an important thing to do at the Gala. Ocean’s hair was dyed bright green to match, and he sported a black Prada suit and a white T-shirt.

The last notable man I’m going to talk about is Lil Nas X. We all know he’s moved past his country look (no more hot pink cowboy hats for him right now), but he seems to be entering royal territory. Lil Nas X, styled by Hodo Musa,  said in an interview that he wanted to start with royalty, wearing a golden cloak as he walks onto the red carpet. He then took off the cloak to reveal a C3PO-like suit of armor, a “shield” he had built around himself. By the time he had taken off the armor, he was comfortable in himself and who he was, internally and externally. He wore a gold catsuit by Louis Vuitton and black combat boots to round everything out. Although his outfit reflected himself and his journey, Lil Nas X’s three-part series did not reflect American Fashion and the Met Gala’s theme to the fullest extent. 

Isabelle: Okay. Why can’t the Met Gala ever pick a cohesive theme? Looking at all the outfits at first glance, no one would be able to pick up the “American” fashion aspect. While a notable few did follow, such as Billie Eilish, who opted for a glamorous Marilyn Monroe-inspired look and Ciara Peters who wore a bright green football field-inspired dress. Since this theme is inherently political, it led to a series of statements, some more impactful than others. Cara Delevingne’s “Peg the Patriarchy” comes to mind. I found this to be a bit….performative? Cringe? It rubbed me the wrong way, especially when the stylist did not credit the original woman of color who coined the phrase five years ago. While the theme was hard to dress for, (American? Really?) many stylists were able to be creative. Yara Shahidi’s dress was inspired by 1950s American singer and activist, Josephine Baker, and Quannah Chasinghorse wore authentic Navajo jewelry to honor her Native American culture. Carey Mulligan wore a bright, pink dress as a “Barbie” and Gigi Hadid wore a sleek, old Hollywood-inspired look. Others wore amazing outfits as well, just not…. following the theme? Hunter Schafer had white eye contacts with an alien-looking creature on her face, looking intergalactic with her silver dress. She looked awesome, similar to Grimes, just not very “American.” Why bother with creating a theme if it’s loosely followed? Personally, I want to see celebrities go all out, just completely outrageous outfits, and match the theme, to make each Gala a little different. 

Skyler: As much as most of the celebrities didn’t match the theme, there was a big underlying theme of Old Hollywood. Old Hollywood brings to mind the glamour in dresses and film from the ‘20s to the ‘40s, most notably, ending in the ‘60s.  Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe are the two ringleaders of the Old Hollywood era. 

Billie Eilish, a co-chair of the event, is most known for her baggy clothing and bold fashion statements. Straying away from her old fashion, Eilish channeled Marilyn Monroe with a blonde bob and a show-stopping peach-colored custom Oscar de la Renta gown with a bustier top and a flowing tulle skirt. 

Euphoria actress Barbie Ferreira wore a custom Jonathan Simkhai gown covered in pearls, bringing in a wonderful Old Hollywood look with purple eye makeup and curled hair to round everything out.

Megan Thee Stallion walked on to the red carpet in Coach, wearing a custom pastel pink dress with ruffles asymmetrically on the side. She looks as if she has just stepped off the set from a glamorous movie with her hair, crimped in finger waves to one side, and dramatic makeup.

Kendall Jenner looked to Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” for inspiration, wearing custom Givenchy in a “modern re-creation of the ball dress” worn by Hepburn. Her gown was see-through and covered in crystals, and while it’s a nod to Hepburn, it is a bit of a far stretch to base it off of. 

Yara Shahidi, an American actress, wore an outfit inspired by Josephine Baker, the first Black woman who, in 1927, starred in a major motion picture. Shahidi’s figure-hugging strapless Dior dress was made of silk, with a golden tulle cape, gloves, and a diamond necklace completing the look. 

Old Hollywood was a big contributor at the Met Gala and brought forward a new idea for a future theme that could rival 2018’s legendary outfits.

Isabelle: You may have noticed the array of celebrities at the gala was a little different this year; in addition to the upcoming celebrities, actors, and activists, influencers from various social media platforms made appearances, such as Emma Chamberlain, Dixie D’Amelio, and Addison Rae. Besides the seemingly unanimous online praise for Gen Z’s beloved Emma Chamberlain, many were conflicted on whether or not TikTok stars such as D’Amelio and Rae should have been invited. Historically, the Met Gala is a night of high celebrity status. Many eyes were rolled at the presence of Addison Rae in particular, who gained popularity through TikTok dances. I’ll admit, I was one of them. I understand the frustration; the recent phenomenon of  “everyday people” becoming famous online for not doing anything notable or impressive is one thing, but to suddenly gain the same status as celebrities in Hollywood is another. However, with changing times, I don’t think we should be too surprised. The concept of random people turned online influencers and high-status celebrities is something that begins to blur the social class line that separates us, the observers, from the glamorous celebrities we watch and discuss. And I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Do I think Addison Rae deserved to be there? That’s still debatable.  Do I think this concept opens the door for more accessibility and diversity for big events such as the Met Gala? Yes. While the attendees are still primarily the “one percent,” or the very few at the very top, the change is still a start. 

The Met Gala is a wonderful night that has been a tradition since 1948. It’s a place where celebrities, poets, politicians, and artists can get together for a night of celebrating The Met’s history and raise money for new exhibits at the museum. It’s one of fashion’s biggest nights of the year, when everyone invited revels on a red carpet with thousands of cameras flashing their way in their best outfits. For people who weren’t invited (like Isabelle and Skyler) the next best thing to do is tear apart the outfits, good and bad.